Rants & Raves

I am writing regarding the article on 'Silicon Beach' ("Valley: 'Cruzing' to the Beach," April 21, 2000).

I have been living in Santa Cruz for over 16 years and commuted over into Silicon Valley for many of them. I don't recall ever seeing "Valley Go Home" graffiti on freeway overpasses. The author is referring to sentiment that exited 15 years ago; is it correct to say that it was "not so long ago"?

Any resentment that may have existed revolved around the traffic congestion created by the boardwalk and weekend beachgoers. Most Santa Cruz technology workers resented local employers who offered to pay less for the same skill set despite the fact that being located in Santa Cruz didn't effect their revenue stream and provided lower overheads. It is these local companies that took advantage of us and forced us to commute into Silicon Valley for what, for many of us, was as much as twice the pay rate.

I'm glad companies are moving to Santa Cruz, and I'm glad they will have to pay through the nose for local talent. They will have to meet market rates in order to find workers in an already tight market. They will have to begin to pay us what we're worth.